Victoria's mobile ambulance service is set for a shake-up following the death of a regionally based paramedic and dispatch concerns.
A new operating model for Mobile Intensive Care Ambulances (MICA) is under consideration, Ambulance Victoria has confirmed.
It is believed some of the mobile service's single responders, who are based in regional areas such as Bendigo, Morwell, Horsham and Ballarat, could be converted into dual units.
Unlike regular paramedics, MICA staff receive further intensive training to deal with the state's sickest patients.
Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said the so-called "crisis" within MICA is predominantly linked to teams being dispatched to minor cases and it was lowering morale.
"They're sending them to the most benign non-emergencies and they're not available to respond to the cases that they're trained for," he told AAP.
"It's like sending the SWAT team to do traffic control. They want to be busy but they're just using them as clock stoppers.
Triple Zero Victoria, formerly known as the Emergency Services Telecommunication Authority, came under fire during the COVID-19 pandemic after 33 Victorians died as triple-zero call answering times blew out.
The call-taking system was overhauled and its workforce bolstered but Mr Hill said more reforms were needed to dispatch coding.
"People are calling up with a toothache and it's being dispatched as a heart attack ... we need to fix the call-taking system," he said.
"Because of the way they're being utilised and being dispatched inappropriately, it means we don't have enough resources for that additional workload.
"They end up using the MICA crews just to meet their KPIs (key performance indicators) and stop the clock."
Ambulance Victoria's response benchmark for code one cases is within 15 minutes for 85 per cent of incidents statewide and 90 per cent for centres with over 7500 people.
MICA paramedics should be reserved for the most serious priority code zero cases or when advanced life support crews call for additional support, Mr Hill said.
A senior MICA paramedic, who worked as a single responder in rural Victoria, took their own life late last year.
Mr Hill said the tragedy demonstrated all MICA paramedics need more support, especially those covering vast remote areas.
Premier Jacinta Allan declined to respond to "claims and allegations" that parts of the state are regularly being left with no coverage for serious cases.
"Some of the matters canvassed in some of the media report today go to the operational decisions around dispatch," she said.
"In my view, those operational decisions around the dispatch and deployment of these skilled workers are very much best left to those with the operational expertise."
Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier suggested the issues were putting lives at risk.
"Victorians are paying the price for the Allan government’s blowouts, waste, record taxes and debt," she said.
But Ambulance Victoria's executive director clinical operations Anthony Carlyon said there would be no reduction to MICA or clinical services in regional or rural Victoria as part of the review.
"Last year we saw record numbers of Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance interns in training, and we'll see a further record boost in MICA this year," he said.
"These interns will be placed across the state."
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